Road Ahead: The long road to fixing Fischer-Hallman

Good news if you drive out to west Kitchener — the province is poised to complete Highway 7/8 widening at Fischer-Hallman Road.

The plan is to reopen the full Fischer-Hallman overpass by early next week and also to open the new eastbound expressway on-ramp. This should end construction disruption around the Sunrise Shopping Centre.

Less welcome news — traffic planners now want to wait until 2015 to review the busy intersection at Fischer-Hallman and Ottawa Street South. Meanwhile, the latest plan to widen Fischer-Hallman south of the Sunrise centre has been delayed until 2016. That’s 13 years after traffic started going bad.

Let’s rewind to see how this has unfolded. Politicians launched a study in 2005 to find traffic solutions. A plan that called for a partial widening of Fischer-Hallman in 2008 was delayed until 2010 and then delayed again until 2013. Now it’s been rolled into a larger road-widening plan to be put before regional councillors Dec. 11. It has a price tag of $12 million and may struggle to launch in 2016.

The latest plan calls for widening Fischer-Hallman to four lanes between Ottawa and Bleams Road. The lanes are needed to handle traffic that’s forecast to grow 52 per cent between 2011 and 2027. A roundabout is planned at Bleams. Traffic signals will be maintained at Westmount Road and at Activa Avenue.

Interestingly, planners have advised against on-road cycling lanes and sidewalks. Instead Fischer-Hallman is to get paved multi-use trails on both sides. They would be three metres wide, shared by cyclists and pedestrians. This could save up to $2.5 million. Planners see it as the best way to accommodate everyone and link to existing trails.

Curbside driving lanes would be 30 centimetres wider than inside lanes. This could help cycling commuters who prefer to stay on the road.

Widening the road would mean axing up to 55 trees and demolishing a barn and garage at a potential heritage property. Trees would be replaced. Twenty-two property owners would lose land strips or parcels. No new noise barriers are planned based on noise estimates. Some residents aren’t happy about that.

There are attractive elements in the plan to widen Fischer-Hallman. But it sure is taking a long time to come into focus.